Introduction to the Special Issue on Disability

Catherine Easton

This special edition of the Web Journal of Current Legal
Issues brings together cutting-edge research in the area of
disability law. The articles focus upon a number of key themes:
health, employment, technology and culture. It is over six years
since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (UNCRPD) came into force, requiring its Parties to
promote, protect and ensure equality of participation for
disabled people. This edition comes at a time when the extent and
application of this influential convention can be assessed and
many of the articles shed light upon its operation in diverse
yet, at times, interlinked spheres.

Piers Gooding provides context in relation to the development
of mental health law with an analysis of is historical
development, leading to an evaluation of the impact of the
UNCRPD. This approach demonstrates the importance of the
Convention in bringing about a new era of reform, based upon
international human rights law. Peter Bartlett draws upon the
UNCRPD's approach to capacity and supported decision-making as he
opens up the conversation on potential revisions to the
deprivation of liberty standards. He places his analysis within
the framework of relevant UK and Strasbourg jurisprudence with a
call for clarification of aims behind the extent and application
of safeguards. Tabitha Collingbourne's piece is a timely analysis
of the provisions of the Care Act 2014 in the light the UNCRPD.
She finds that this wide-scale reform falls short of completely
fulfilling the requirements of the Convention's right to live
independently.

A contextual analysis of the UK's law and jurisprudence
relating to disability discrimination in employment is presented
by Michael Jefferson. Through case law analysis, he tracks the
application of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 through to
the Equality Act 2010, making predictions for future
developments. This piece is then followed by two which apply the
law to specific aspects of disability. Speech disability is the
focus of Philip Leith's work which applies the relevant legal
framework in an analysis of discrimination in relation to those
who stammer. This is then drawn into a consideration of "merit",
with an evaluation of the failings of the tribunal system and a
discussion of the potential role for arbitration. Obesity as a
disability is the focus of Mark Butler's work which places the
Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU's Opinion in
the case of Kaltoft into its wider societal context. The piece
evaluates the Opinion in the light of UK jurisprudence, drawing
conclusions as to the case's potential impact on UK law. Kaltoft
is also the focus of James Marson's in-depth case commentary.

The social and political position of disability rights is
evaluated in Abigail Pearson's work on the relationship between
language and the development of the legal framework. Taking a
philosophical approach based on an analysis of the UNCRPD, she
demonstrates how the framing of key concepts can have a
detrimental effect on public perceptions of disability and, in
turn, the protection of rights. Pearson introduces her work with
a discussion of the comments of Lord Freud, the minister in
charge of welfare reform, in relation to disabled people and
"worth", and it is welfare reform which is the focus for
Catherine Easton's work. This presents an analysis of how the
implementation of the Welfare Reform Act 2012's Universal Credit
information technology system impacts adversely on disabled
people. A background is given to the much-troubled project which
leads to an examination of how, in practice, it affects disabled
claimants and the organisations supporting them.

Technology is the focus of Heather Bradshaw-Martin and
Catherine Easton's piece on the potential for driverless or
autonomous cars to impact upon the lives of disabled people. This
work analyses the law and the ethics behind the implementation of
the technology, arguing that, with legislative change, it has
significant potential to enhance independence. In the final
article Shawn Harmon, Charlotte Waelde and Sarah Whatley examine
the extent to which disabled dance can be seen as part of our
cultural heritage. Placing the issue within its social context
and drawing upon the UNCRPD, the piece highlights the importance
of the right to equality of participation in the creation and
practice of culture.

An overarching observation on the edition as a whole is that
while, from a legal and policy perspective, significant
advancements have been made in addressing societal barriers,
there are still many spheres in which progress needs to be made.
The UNCRPD provides a rights-based framework but its application
within relevant societal, economic, health-related, technological
and cultural contexts needs to ensure that, at a practical level,
true equality of participation is achieved.